The Hazel Green herald. [volume] (Hazel Green, Wolfe County, Ky.) 1885-19??, 1887-11-25
TRAIN DISPATCHING.
A Position That Requires Men of
Iron Nerve and Quick Brains.
Til. Awful Consequences Likely to Follow
single Mistake-A Thrilling Story
Told by u Commercial Trav-
eler.

Accident caused by an incompe-
tent tr:,in-dispatchcr," remarked Il
gentleman in an uptown hotel, as he
laid down newspaper after reading
an account of a railroad collision.
People arc beginning to realize the
fact that two trains cant pass each
other on a single track" he remarked,
dryly.
Tn" gentlcmqnw was a superintendent
Of q Western railroad who had work I'd
his way up from a telegraph operator,
stopping for sixteen years in dis
patcher's position before superin-
tendency was awarded him. 10 u cir
cc OF friends he spoke of the dangers
ot travel and the duties of train-dis-
patchnr.
Few people" he said, "cvcn those
who travcl continually, know the dan
ger that they are III while rushing
over mountains aud through valleys
Mt the rate of forty miles an hour.
with trains in front of them. trains be-
hind them, passenger, freight, eXcur-
sion. construction, special and wild
trains. laundering along on the same
track. In tho East, where nearly every
road is doublc.tracked, the danger is
materially diminished. but the great
networks of roads that spreads like Il
tisherman's net over the great West is
mostly single track, and requires men
of iron nerve aud quick brains to ham
die the trains. One of our Dispatch
"rs virtually holds the lives of our pas
srngers ut the ends of his fingers.
- suppose for moment dis
patcher should lose his head, what is
the result? An awful catastrophe.
Bnt ii IS seldom. comparatively speak
ing, that an accident or collision oc-
ours, aud for this we can thank the
lynx-cycd, quick-witted and nimble-
fingered man. who sits in his Office
hundreds of miles away, and controls
the movements of his engineers and
conductors, by the aid of his servant,
elect lefty. Before him lies a train
sheet. divided into subdivisions, with
ltl' ltiNtS III SdCu SldltOus anu -
column for each train. both east and
wcst-bound. cntcred thereon. When
u train leaves station, the operator
reports it 70 the dispatcher as arriving
and departing at whatever time it
may b., which is entered on the sheet
Thus. by CHANGING at his train-shect,
the dispatcher can tell where each
train is. There are roads where dis
patcher has charge of two freight
divisions of one hundred miles
each. On each division are thirty
trains each way, making one hundred
and twenty trains controlled by one
man. with. possibly, one assistant.
I've will suppose that train is
late, and can not make its meeting
point. This is time when the tcle-
graph must straightcn things out, and
if not done well n snarl of trains will
be the result. Train 10 is behind
time. which happens from various
causes, The regular meeting point
with train z is at A. Not being able
TO make it. the dispatcher sends an or
der first TO Train ut G. The follow
ing is the gencrally-accepted style OF
an order:
To Conductor aud Engineer No, c: Hold at
Cmul Train 10 arrives. Answer W. W. {.
"1'hc operator at G. then displays
signal, dag by day and lamp by
night, that warns the conductor OF
Train not to pass c without ascer-
tanning what the signal Is out for
When the orders are delivered the con-
duetor and engineer sign them and
they arc repeated to the dispatcher
who IL they arc correct. answers back
~. X. The dispatcher then sends nm
order la Train 10 as follows;
IT, Coadugtor ana Engineer Train 10 \; Ran
" rssarilcss Of Train :. Answer W. VIC
When this L. signed. repeated and
o. S'd lie train pulls oul aud makes